For the second year in a row, we’ve experienced a very late fall. We are now in December and many trees have yet to shed their leaves and home owners are still clearing their property of leaves and yard waste.

As a result, the 49th Ward from now until the Christmas holiday will have its own truck devoted exclusively to picking up leaves and yard waste.

If you are the owner or resident of a home receiving City of Chicago garbage pick-up (single family homes and apartment buildings with five units or less), place your bagged yard waste next to your garbage carts and contact my 49th Ward Service Office at ward49@cityofchicago.org (or 773-338-5796) to request a special City yard waste pick-up.

This service will be available until Friday, December 21st.

If you are an owner or resident of an apartment building larger than five units, contact your private waste hauler to arrange a pick-up of your yard waste.

As a special reminder, when you clean your yard, DO NOT blow or rake your leaves and yard waste into the street. City street sweeping will end in one week and most of our streets have seen the last street sweeping of the season. The leaves you blow into the street simply will compost into mud and will not be cleaned by the City until street sweeping resumes in April.

Not only is keeping your street clean the neighborly thing to do, but blowing or raking your leaves and yard waste into the street is against the law. You could be subject to a fine of $250 if you do so. Fines will increase for repeated offenses.